WWII vet, 93, dealing with canceled VA benefits amid health concerns

World War II U.S. Marine Corps veteran Paul Uber considers himself a surviving victim of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945.

By Andy FillmoreCorrespondent

World War II U.S. Marine Corps veteran Paul Uber considers himself a surviving victim of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945.

And now, he also feels he is a victim of the bureaucracy of the Veterans Administration, which canceled his benefits in June.

Uber joined the U.S. Marines in July 1942. The native of Youngstown, Ohio, also saw and survived “action against the enemy” at Tarawa, the Gilbert Islands, Tinian, the Marianas, Okinawa, Ryukyu Island and Saipan from November 1943 to April 1945, according to his discharge authorization papers from the U.S. Marine Corps.

Uber, 93, who lives in Silver Springs Shores with his wife of 39 years, Marie, recently recounted his experience in the war. He said he suffered bouts of malaria and dengue fever that he contracted during the march through the island on the way to a possible invasion of the mainland of Japan and his assignment at “ground zero” on Nagasaki.

“We were getting ready for an invasion and knew it would be a rough one,” he said.

As Uber waited for his next orders, the two atomic bombs that brought the close of WWII were dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945.

Uber's 2nd Pioneer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division was shipped 1,500 miles via landing craft from Saipan to Nagasaki on Sept. 24, 1945. When he arrived at the center of the devastation, he had a “poncho and bedroll” and was told to sleep on the ground with 206 other members of his outfit.

“You wouldn't believe the devastation. About 72,000 people were vaporized. In the harbor, 50 ships were gone and all that was left in my area was a factory smokestack. We gathered a lot of lumber and diesel fuel to burn bodies and the remains were dumped at sea,” Uber said.

“The Japanese people were good to us. I had cigarettes — we paid 50 cents a pack for them — and traded them for things like kimonos for my mom and sister. The (Japanese) military and police were very negative. They would turn their backs on us,” he said.

“When we were getting ready to board a ship to return to the U.S. (Oct. 23, 1945), we were striped to our shorts and shoes. They dumped our weapons and put us on a transport ship that could've taken 3,000. We were then quarantined with armed MP's (military police) for four weeks at Camp Pendleton (California). We were getting anxious to go to town and the guards eventually (looked the other way) let us go,” Uber said.

Uber was honorably discharged at Great Lakes, Illinois, on Dec. 14, 1945. After he was home three days, he said he suddenly went blind.

“My dad took me to the doctor and he drained my sinuses and my sight returned. Within six months, at age 24, my hair and teeth started falling out,” Uber said.

He said a doctor at Crille VA Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, removed the gland under his left arm. He has had 10 major surgeries and there is a tumor in his left breast, he said. He said that for 50-plus years, his health condition and the cause for it have been a source of controversy for him.

“I received a 30 percent (VA disability) for elephantitis from 1946 to 1950,” he said.

He said that after protracted attempts to reinstate those disability benefits, and also have his radiation exposure considered in 2009, he received a 100 percent disability status. In June of this year, all his benefits were canceled.

The VA publishes a list of 20 cancers, including lymphoma and cancer of the breast, for which Hiroshima and Nagasaki occupation forces are eligible for compensation.

Uber displayed a benefits denial letter from the VA that states “after the infectious disease doctors reviewed your chart (it is indicated) that if you have chronic swelling/elephantitus, no medical treatment is indicated at this point. It is due to damaged lymphatics and cannot be reversed. ”

A chart at www.va.gov lists a veteran alone 30 percent benefit at $400.93 per month and 100 percent disability at $2,858.24 monthly.

Congressman Rich Nugent's office has initiated an inquiry into the cancellation of Uber's VA benefits. That office was still awaiting answers as this story went to press.

Calls to the number listed on Uber's denial correspondence were not returned.

A May 2014 “Fact Sheet” published by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency states “the radiation received by veterans at Nagasaki…was generally low” estimated at 1.25 REM. The paper states that much of the radiation from the bomb was present only briefly and had been reduced by rains.

The paper also states that although a radiation survey was made prior to sending in U.S. troops, the exact “billet area” of some troops ... has not been precisely determined” and patrols “presumably” entered areas of “residual contamination.”

An EPA chart of illness likely from radiation exposure, at www.epa.gov, starts illness examples at 5 REMS exposure; although it is clearly stated “there is no firm basis for setting a safe level of exposure.”

Uber is a former member of the National Association of Atomic Veterans, a group spawned by disagreements between veterans with governmental agencies including the VA in regards to health concerns caused by exposure to radiation while serving in the military.

Fred Schafer of Lebanon, Oregon, was exposed to radiation in 1962 when he witnessed an atomic bomb explosion on Christmas Island while aboard the USS Chiploa.

“Our protective clothing during the blast was basically a T-shirt and pants. I lost some teeth after watching the atomic bomb explosion,” he said.

“Our radiation exposure badges (meters) were thrown overboard. Uber's problem is typical, as the DTRA (Defense Threat Reduction Agency) says radiation doses should be uniform. We disagree with DTRA often because the information is inaccurate. Veterans with radiation exposure are a negative for them with the continued use of atomic energy, Some veterans were promised medals but never got them,” said Schafer, 72, national commander of the NAAV in a phone interview.

“I was 19 when I served aboard the USS Chipola and back then I never felt the government would do anything like what I learned later they would do,” Schafer said, referring to the denial of radiation related illnesses.

Meanwhile, Uber continues to suffer from fever and “PTSD-like” symptoms along with swelling in his feet, which requires him to use a wheelchair.

“One of our outfit, Leman Quigley of Portland, Oregon, a taxi driver, tried to track all our members,” Uber said. “By 1995 they were all gone but me.”